Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: OsageWhisper on October 28, 2014, 12:21:33 pm
-
Has anyone use super glue as a finish for their bow ?
-
Not an entire bow, but Ive used it to seal oily woods prior to sealing with poly. Works good to hold the oils back and allow the finish to dry properly.
-
It cracks, not made to bend. Static parts it is well. I use for knife handles
-
Tite bond 3 does a good job though, seen it with my own eyes.
-
Art Butner uses it for arrow finish. I use a lot of super glue during bow making but not as a finish.
-
A friend of mine once finished a bow with super glue (the cheap, runny stuff). It was not easy to apply, but it worked out fine. Seemed to create a really durable and hard surface.
He used a plastic bag wrapped around his fingers to keep the glue from sticking to him. A latex glove might work better. He squeezed a lot of glue onto the wood and quickly rubbed it in. As soon as the glue becomes tacky, you have to stop rubbing, or it won't dry to form a smooth surface. Once the glue was dry, it actually looked horrible. The surface was patchy and chalky; not fully transparent. The trick was to polish the superglue once it had thoroughly dried. He used a bundle of wood shavings to vigorously rub the surface and give it a nice shine.
-
I use super glue as a finish all the time on projects I turn on the lathe. It works awesome! But, I apply it while it's on the lathe. Rubbed in at high speeds, it dries in seconds due to the friction heat. I wouldn't want to try and apply to a bow. Too much work to get that nice shine. There's too many other finishes that will work just as nice without the polishing step. Just my opinion.
Tattoo Dave
-
If you want to try something similar to super glue, but I consider much better, Try what is called the Massey finish, as in Jay Massey, half acetone and half epoxcy. It works really good over a sinew backing for sealing against water. It is flexible and I haven't problems with it cracking.
Duke